Hollywood blockbusters to take control of your television

Not satisfied with releasing a director's cut, filmmakers want the next generation of High Dynamic Range movies to override your picture settings to preserve their artistic vision.

Some people are perfectly happy to leave their television on the default factory settings, but if you're fussy about picture quality and you're spending top-dollar then you'll want to dip into the picture settings and tweak them to taste.

High Dynamic Range is the Next Big Thing in picture quality – relying on new standards like Ultra HD Premium (HDR 10) and Dolby Vision to reveal a wider range of colours along with much more detail in the highlights and shadows. It's designed for videophiles dreaming of the perfect picture, but they might be in for a rude shock when they grab some popcorn, dim the lights and sit back to watch their first HDR blockbuster movie.

Embedded within HDR video is metadata detailing the characteristics of the picture – whether you're watching via a streaming service like Netflix or the upcoming Ultra HD Blu-ray disc standard. When some new HDR-compatible televisions detect HDR content they automatically lock-down most of your advanced picture settings, believing they know what's best.

People who leave their televisions on the default factory settings won't care, but if you've already optimised the picture to look perfect in your lounge room then you might not be happy about the filmmaker hijacking your picture settings. It's a bit like forcing you to listen to the director's commentary, except instead of talking in your ear they rip the remote control from your hand and tell you what's best.

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Taking control of your television to overrule your picture preferences is a contentious issue and the industry is yet to agree on standard practice, says Chris Porter – Hisense's Director of Product Management.

"Content providers are getting pushy, they want to override your settings to decide how your television should look," says Porter – in Australia for the launch of Hisense's new Ultra HD Premium-compatible ULED range of LED televisions.

"Filmmakers and studios might be excited about HDR metadata giving them control over the picture, but I think that viewers should have the final say. There's no official ruling yet on how HDR metadata should be handled and who is in control, the issue might be tabled at the next UHD Alliance meeting."

The final decision on who has control over HDR mode is up to television makers, as the Dolby Vision HDR standard does not insist that content can lock-down your picture settings, says Patrick Griffis – Vice President, Dolby Laboratories, Office of the CTO.

"Dolby Vision doesn't force the TV to override your settings, that's up to the manufacturer," says Griffis – in Australia for the launch of LG's new Dolby Vision-compatible range of OLED and LED televisions.

"We've encouraged the television makers to think about adding a studio or director's mode to their televisions – to offer the most faithful reproduction of the artistic intent in the original master – but if you don't like it you certainly should be able to override it and switch to your personal preferences."